Solemn Dust
by tsukishima7
Summary: The Fuyuki fire has done more than forcing him to lost aspects of himself. Now, there is nothing left behind but Crimson Dust and the harsh logical reality of the universe: The philosophy of existence. Techno-Fantasy fic
1. Chapter 1

**Solemn Dust**

* * *

 **Chapter I: From the ashes, the Magus Killer was reborn**

* * *

Time stands still as battle worn  
Beneath your feet the blood runs cold  
No one moves  
Death, a wasteland, razed to the ground and gone, perished what life there was  
And ghostly in the darkness, there cast a shadow, mirroring madness  
Echoes the work of the devil  
The death and destruction  
The symbol of Hades  
The heat and the hatred  
The breakdown of life  
Leaves us sorrow and strife  
And we all will return to ash

* * *

2007

Shirou sees tiny molecular machinery clasping together creating complex structures and repairing human cells. All he could see was efficiency and union. Synergy and simplicity. It was a stunning revelation to the child whose existence was nothing but a farce.

In all of his 7 years of existence he never could connect to any person or enact sympathy for the simplest of action or reaction thereof. It was if the fire left nothing but an empty husk behind, not capable of thinking for himself nor others.

There was only base instinct left and logical motivation driving him forward from his inevitable stagnation. No amount of psychological help was of any use. He couldn't find any enjoyment in doing futile things so what was the point?

But now he sees. The harmony of these theoretical machines projected in 3d to 2d screens. He was one of them, he was meant to be a hivemind. What he lacked could be created. Although there was no motivation behind his actions, his logical side concluded that if there is no logic then he could create a new logic beginning with these machines.

"01001001 01101100 01101100 01110101 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001"

"Kiritsugu, I want to learn about more about nano-science and mechanical engineering…"

Looking at Shirou at the table. He was surprised to hear anything from the little boy. Most of the time Shirou was a quiet and unassuming presence even he couldn't detect. Shirou never asked for anything nor did ever complain or give any facial cues. So seeing a hint of spark in his eyes and exciting undertone in his voice that most people wouldn't be able to detect was an extremely surprising turn of events.

"Shirou… What has managed to spark your interest so much that you finally spoke to me?"

He merely looked at Kiritsugu and quirked his head to the side, as if he didn't understand his question. Although he shouldn't be surprised, the psychologist informed that Shirou didn't comprehend most of human concepts. Not of any refusal but mostly because Shirou was incapable doing so. He never looked much into his amnesia nor the effects of the fire. But it wasn't a Thaumaturgy related problem so he was at a loss on how to help him with his affliction.

"If you think you can handle it, I can hire a tutor who is versed in advance sciences and theoretical topics. He is an acquaintance that owes me a few favors"

He didn't bother with getting in great detail over the specifics. It would mostly be ignored by Shirou beside keywords. He can at least can help him this much. He saved a soul, but is that soul really saved? Time can only tell, but he hopes this sudden interest would be a turning point for Shirou.

"01001001 01101100 01101100 01110101 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001"

Time Skip: 2010

As the tutor left the house Shirou waved at him, no energy was wasted. All of his motion efficient and Spartan. Once the door closed, he simply turned around with no reflection and turned around to walk to the shed in the garden where Kiritsugu was doing something he couldn't find the effort to even contemplate about.

He stood still as he watched as Kiritsugu removed weapons from a hidden wall to a bag on the ground. He stood there so still that it was a few couple of seconds before Kiritsugu looked up and saw Shirou gazing at him expressionless. He made no indication as if he were to speak and simply continued his ritual.

A normal person would ask why ones father would load lethal weapons into a bag and still look as if it was a normal day. But Shirou was not a normal nor an abnormal person. He was simply there. Kiritsugu couldn't find anything to say that Shirou would comprehend so he finished up his work and stood to face him.

"Shirou… I am going to a trip for a while. I'm not going to be home for a few months. Taiga will be here incase anything happens. I know she's not a very good caretaker cough, so take care of her too"

No words were said and the world keeps on spinning as Kiritsugu left for parts unknown. He received his daily tutoring and cooked for himself and Taiga. He may not have creativity nor feelings for making food. But he makes up for that with his impeccable precision and efficiency in the kitchen where no mistakes were allowed.

One day his tutor left to be never seen again, unnerved by Shirou's demeanor and gaze, he said that was all he could teach Shirou. And he wasn't wrong in that regard because no memory was ever forgotten in the strange brain of Shirou. Tests were nothing to him nor was calculus.

Shirou didn't reflect or cared that his tutor was gone, he merely used his computer gifted to him from Taiga to further his own studies. No memory was forgotten, and certainly not that memory that changed his perspective on things.

This went on for a few uneventful weeks until Kiritsugu returned back from his trip with a somber and dark demeanor. Shirou went on with his day and informed Kiritsugu that his tutor left. Kiritsugu body language didn't change, but he did grab Shirou and held him to his chest as he coughed harshly and unshed tears formed over his eyes but never showed.

"Shirou, I already told you that I'm a Magus. I think it's time for you to know you have a sister barricaded away where I can't reach. I'm fading fast and you are her only hope to be united with her brother. I'm going to teach you everything I have learned. I have already failed one child, please forgive me for failing another"

Shirou of course didn't understand, but he always does what Kiritsugu has said. This was no exception. It was merely an offering of information to him and more people he can take care of.

"Tommorow I will teach you structural analysis, and from there I will show you how to use weapons, your magic circuits aren't nothing to be proud of but it is enough"

Shirou merely went to a motion he saw on television and hugged his caretaker. It was not a notion of sentiment but Kiritsugu couldn't help but be happy and sad at the same time that he was tainting a child to do his job.

So it went forth with Shirou learning and digesting information like clockwork without stop nor break. His studies in technology and nano engineering wasn't forgotten, but merely assigned to a lower priority.

"01001001 01101100 01101100 01110101 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001"

Bang!

A shot rang out in the garden and a moving bottle crumbles into pieces. Dozens of shards lined the field from previous endeavors and Shirou lowered the smoking barrel and clicked on the safety of the gun. No neighbor or bystander will be able to hear the shot through a boundary field set up by Kiritsugu.

Walking to a briefcase on a barrel, he left the gun in the specialized compartment and wiped his finger prints from the metal surface of the gun. Closing the briefcase he stepped over the glass shards and looked at the sharp implement he intends to restore to its former shape.

A normal magus needed a special spoken word or sentence to self-hypnotize themselves to do a certain spell, Spellcasting. This wasn't for Shirou's case. His mind was too logical for such parlor tricks. Instead he simply twists the information to fit his perception. He already knows magecraft can happen and has happened, so he doesn't need to disillusion himself what he already knows what will happen.

Blood red dust seeps from his body and gently falls onto the broken glass. Shards were dragged by invisible forces and stuck the bottle together to its original state. The cracks glowed an iridescent red and faded to reveal an unbroken Ramune bottle. The dust flowed around him and disappeared back into his body.

Shirou first devised the Crimson Dust a few years back after he tried to create micro-machines to fix his warped mind and become more connected to things. He never had proper equipment but that didn't stop his logical side of remembering Kiritsugu last lessons before he died. Projection and Alchemy learned from the Einzberns.

By projecting highly complex factory filters into his body which took little Prana to maintain, he kept them on permanently and gradually replaced most of his cells and consumed high level of radioactive compounds and metals found in smoke detectors and paint. He didn't know what would happen if he replicated his nerve circuits which draws Mana in his body and convert them into Prana so he assimilated radioactive materials to power most of the Crimson Dust so he wouldn't fall apart once he lost his only way to maintain his nano Dust.

He learned of nuclear batteries when he studied space crafts and how they function to see if they can progress his nano research. By consuming a lot of non-lethal radioactive compounds he could enrich them with his Dust and create micro batteries throughout his body. His body recuperates faster than the radiation does damage so he deemed it an appropriate action. Unknowing of the object inside of him that helped him live through the conversion process and lethal radiation.

Normally Kiritsugu would disapprove of his actions, but he died before he began the conversion process. Shirou didn't mourn nor attended his funeral. He didn't differentiate between an inanimate object and a living being. To him all humans were just autonomous objects that had evolved to store energy and potential to do things that didn't matter.

His only reason for existence was instinct and external stimuli. Until he also fixed that. By harvesting nerve circuits and brain matter from Kiritsugu he assimilated parts of his memories and skills so he can finish Kiritsugu last request. The nerves were put to good use even though he can replicate them by artificially creating mindless life using the dna of himself and Kiritsugu, and then harvested the nerves circuits that way. He also felt emotions for the first time in his entire existence once he looked deeper into Kiritsugu brain but he mostly kept them suppressed so it wouldn't interfere with his way of life.

He picked the bottle up and threw it into the box where all his repaired stuff lies in case they somehow were defect. Picking up the briefcase of the barrel he tightened up his tie and dusted down his business suit and entered his house and called a cab to bring him to the airport where he will take a flight to Germany. Leaving a letter onto the hallway table for Taiga he changed his face to Kiritsugu's and closed the door with a resounding thump.

"01001001 01101100 01101100 01110101 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001"

Exiting the entrance of Munich airport he saw a light coating of snow covering everything in the colder climate compared to Japan due to global warming. But he ignored that and entered a nearby taxi to go to the city where he will be buying some souvenirs and gifts for Illya, as he saw such gestures on television and wishes to know the feeling Taiga felt when she gifted him with presents.

Watching the unfamiliar setting wasn't a very unique experience to him, but he can at least appreciate some of the sights within his deeper suppressed self.

Stopping at some unknown crowded juncture, he payed the driver and stepped into the frozen streets marred with salt and grime. Bringing up his Idroid he found a delegated his afforded time to 2 hours and left a twenty minute time window to leave to Einzbern Castle on the appropriate transit channel.

Walking in to a nearby appliance store he bought some extra smoke detectors and stored them in his suitcase to be processed later. Leaving the store he entered a fast-food restaurant ordered some high sugar content sodas and a double size burger to replenish organic matter he could assimilate without being obvious about it if he tried to disintegrate a bush. Insects weren't that present in the winter either.

He stood still before a jewelry store and saw a two articles that Taiga always seem to look at when he went shopping. He went through the front door and ringed the absent cashier and waited as a well clothed blond haired gentle man exited the backdoor.

He put on a rather ostentatious smile but Shirou saw his smile vanish as he opened his eyes and saw Shirou's face. His eyes widened a fraction and he took a step back. But he forced a smile back on once he sees Kiritsugu's expressionless face.

"So, what can I do for ze Magus Killer? I don't have any enemies so I can't imagine you're here to kill me"

Shirou's eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch but he stayed and expressionless, he simply pointed to a diamond ring and necklace with a ruby heart.

"The ring and the necklace please…"

"Ah, what a surprise. Even the famous Magus Killer has someone he fancies. Let me take that from the shelve and package it"

Although he went on with his actions with a smile on his, you could barely make out a hint of sweat on his forehead. He put the items in fancy black boxes and put them into a small bag he procured from at the counter on his back with shaky hands.

"Yes uhm, that will be one thousand and forty three euros"

Shirou put down his suit case and brought his wallet from inside his inner breast pocket and counted down the money he converted. Putting down the money on the counter he grabbed the bag and waited for his change as normal people usually did.

"Here's the change, I would say your welcome to come back but that would be a lie. Farewell infamous one"

He exited the jewelry store and walked through the crowded city to the Train station. He took a train and waited a few minutes until he arrived at Oberau and then he took a bus to Linderhof and stealth hiked to Einzbern Castle using camo winter gear.

Halfway through the mountainous region he stopped under a tree and opened his suitcase and removed the Americium 241 to be enriched and power his artificial heating even though his Crimson Dust did its best to keep his heat inside of him. His body wasn't affected that much by heating or freezing, but moisture in his body could clog up his circulatory system with ice crystals and limit his mobility and efficiency.

He removed a specially made panel in the suitcase that hid his weaponry from x-ray scans and put his gun inside his body and moved parts all around the suitcase and assembled a custom made blocky sniper rifle that shoots pellets of random metal using advanced formalcraft to channel electricity through niobium stannide supercooled using aforementioned formalcraft and create magnetic fields that propel the pellets forwards enhanced by an initial explosion within the chamber. The sniper rifle was based on the TST Chemrail Dual Stage Linear Motor Rifle that fires 8.75x52mm Fin Stabilized Sabot rounds with a muzzle energy of 18 kilo joules. It was a dual-stage weapon using chemical propellant first and then electro-magnetic rails as the second stage.

Putting the rifle on his back he left the suitcase hanging on a branch to be collected when he finished and stored the jewelry in his body separated from the nuclear batteries throughout his bodies with lead dust.

"01001001 01101100 01101100 01110101 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001"

Seeing the castle from afar through the scope of his rifle, shirou searched for infiltration points and patrol schedules. Although studies of the Einzberns weren't forthcoming whether they employed anything beyond advanced boundary fields and homunculus. But it didn't matter to Shirou. He'll treat it like a regular assassination run as trained by Kiritsugu and the Yakuza.

Putting the rifle on his back he jumped from the tree on the mountain and glided lightly of the mountain using almost invisible threads of Crimson Dust spread around his body all a dozen feet in length creating air drag and lightly pushing the ground to keep him in the air.

Stopping near the base of the mountain and landing on the snow once he sensed the boundary field a few yards in front of him, he adjusted his eyes and analyzed it for weaknesses. Coming to a conclusion he picked up a rotten piece of wood with insects crawling within and threw it through the boundary unharmed and unobstructed.

"I never tried this before, but Illya needs me… Normal people don't break their promises… Do they?"

A hint of expression could be seen on his face but disappeared once he came to a resolution. Slowly you could see Crimson Dust flying around his body, vaporizing his clothing and weaponry. Base materials were being converted to more Dust and you could see a skeletal form vanishing into motes of glinting metallic dust.

There was only a simple primal intelligence behind this form. Each nano-machine forming a whole collective exchanging information like a computer superior to magecraft such as Memory partition and Thought Acceleration. The concept of Human was left behind for a superior force but the soul was still anchored to each one of these parts and it knew enough that It wanted to go through this boundary. It flowed through fields and trees and simply changed its path if a barrier was found like a living breathing river. Going through the air and underground till it stopped and coalesce back into a living human being who is experiencing excruciating amounts of pain but for an empty being like him, pain was nothing but electrical impulses that can ignored.

Once his clothing reassembled he realized that he could had hidden his weapon that way when he went through the airport. Letting the weapon be part of his arm, he deduced he could quickly create a facsimile of the gun and use his blood as a catalyst for his formalcraft as a surprise attack.

Of course those thoughts were delegated by some other mind partition and he already was walking to the Einzbern castle he could see with his enhanced vision in the night. He managed to pigment his clothing and skin to snow white and neared to a window. Looking the window revealed nothing so he tried to subtly disassemble the window, but felt a barrier preventing him from doing so.

Feeling the nature of this barrier he enhanced his vision to be able to see faults anywhere that he could exploit. Seeing a small crack in the barrier the size of a marble he disassembled his body again and the Dust flowed through the crack and stayed in dust form slowly spreading throughout the castle till it found a room with somebody resembling the pictures Kiritsugu had given him.

Recalling all of the dust to that room, he reassembled his body once again and god rid of the winter camo gear. He balanced himself from the disorientation of having spread his consciousness that far apart and lightly walked to the figure sleeping on the bed. He brushed a hair strand away from her face and watched as she churned in her sleep.

"I'm here Illya, your father is here… Wait, no? Why did I say that..."

He stood still as all his procceses and Dust tried to figure the strange thoughts. Finally finding the culprit he found pieces of his fathers' soul clinging on to his holy sheath? He never questioned the presence of the sheath considering there was no human to compare it to, and he never asked irrelevant questions. But he accepted for what it is, and deduced it was from his Flash Air experiments.

Leaving the information behind his mind, he shook Illya gently and watched as she slowly roused from her slumber. She opened her eyes and they widened once she saw his form.

"Daddy?"

He remembered his form was that of her father/Shirou? But he didn't change his form in case she called the homunculus servants. He picked her up bridal style and looked around the room to see if there is anything he forgotten about.

"Daddy! You came back to me! I knew you would but old man Acht says you left me behind!

She cried on his shoulder and he simply patted her head as he saw on most anime. He figuring that anything could make a little girl happy would also comfort her from her ordeal.

"We are leaving Illya. Is there anything you want to take with you?"

She simply looked up with a confusing expression and voiced it out.

"Why are we leaving Daddy? "

"Jubstacheit doesn't want you to leave and he doesn't yet know I'm here. The boundary fields prevented me from retrieving you because Acht was angered at me for losing the grail war. We need to leave before someone figures out something is amiss"

She looked down and away so he wasn't able to see her expression. But then she turned her head around and looked as if she realized something.

"I believe you daddy, Acht lied to me and I don't like him. So don't worry Daddy"

Once he convinced Illya, he realized something important he didn't take in to account. He Dusted himself on a dime that it would work. But obviously he couldn't do that to someone like his daughter/sister? Even if it worked, it took a few days for him to be fully Dust all because of safety reasons.

He still remembered the layout of the castle from when he was Dust and using Kiritsugu's memories and discussions he figured he could overpower the barrier and cause a ruckus. Which he then proceeds to run as fast as he could. Or take the stealth approach and use the front entrance to leave. Looking the Illya's eyes he asked her something that would be pivotal in his choice.

"Illya, can you walk and stay quiet?"

She simply nodded so he put her down and watched as she went to a closet and removed her sleeping garment and put on a purple coat with a white scarf and an ushanka on her head. She came back beside him and waited for his instructions.

He put his hand in his inner pocket and reassembled the two pieces of jewelry. Although diamond was a bit harder, but a bit of Alchemy fixed that. Showing her the two items, her eyes twinkled.

"Is that for me?"

"Yes Illya. Please wear them for me"

She put on the necklace and the ring. Her twinkling and a smile on her face. She faced Shirou/Kiritsugu? And glomped him as he held her close to him.

"Thank you daddy! They are beautiful"

"We must be quiet now… Follow me, we are going to the front entrance"

Traversing the hallway they descend down the crescent staircase but Shirou/Kiritsugu? Stood still and Illya bumped into him. Down into his line of sight was no other than Jubstacheit Von Einzbern.

"I knew somebody triggered the boundary fields around the castle, but I am surprised to see you Kiritsugu. It seems the news of your death was greatly exaggerated"

The two stared into each other for an unknown amount of time. Shirou finally slightly turned his head to Illya and said one thing.

"Stay here… I'll take care of him"

"01001001 01101100 01101100 01110101 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001"

Note: He sabotaged the metal scanner for his body in the airport incase somebody came bitchin at me. I'm too lazy to beta proof.  
I based the castle around a desolate Neuschwanstein Castle protected by magecraft. Which you all know is Bavarian (I assume). And do you know what else is associated with Bavaria? Figure it out yourself. HAHAHAHAHA! kms


	2. Chapter 2

I'm just pulling stuff out of my hat now. It is what it is.  
The lines beneath somewhat describes this whole debacle. They once lived together and were able to work with each other. When Kiritsugu failed, they were no loner friendly with one another and Acht intends to sacrifice his daughter once Kiritsugu learned that he should have protected his loved ones the most instead of pursuing a impossible goal.

* * *

Chapter II: The rebirth of Shirou

* * *

With vengeance, retribution will be sought with time  
The sacrifice, the crime  
Apostles feed upon the flesh and in return the poor soul reaches our  
wrest crippled mental torture the chance to be immortal  
Once friends betrayed so ruthless, now dead his friend and friendship  
Once friends betrayed so heartless, memories crushed to ashes

* * *

Shirou stepped down the stairs to eye level between them and simply adjusted his tie and stood there waiting for Acht to act. Acht simply slammed his cane down to the ground and complex magic circle came into being on the floors and walls.

"You underestimated me Kiritsugu, do I need to remind you that this is my domain. You walked right into my trap"

A glint and a minuscule amount of movement was seen. Shirou put his hand over his cheek and felt blood on his hand. He opted not to seal the wound in case Acht has more tricks in his sleeves.

"You know, I never did figure out why never were able to pass through my Bounded field. I first thought you didn't actually care about the doll and simply left for finer pastures. But it couldn't be that, the previous effort you took to come here proves that quite clearly. So what did you do now to be able to trespass the estate?"

"Quiet than usual hm. No matter, this is the end for you. Watch Illya as I crush your hopes and dreams!"

Shirou tried to leap back but it was too late, a gust of wind and glimmers of threads flashed through his body. As he slowly fell apart Illya looked on with a horrified expression on her face while Acht simply stared disappointingly.

"Father! No... He can't die"

She screamed out to her father and ran down the stairs and abruptly stilled to a halt once she noticed something very unnatural about the pieces of his body. Shirou's blood glowed an iridescent red and they flowed and slowly turned to Crimson Dust. His body falling apart like sand as they floated as if an undetectable wind were blowing them in random directions.

"What is this source of Prana? It... It feels like melancholy. What has Kiritsugu done?"

Dust gathered around a single spot and formed two solenoids. Arcs of electricity gathered between the solenoids and a burst of fire propelled a two inch metal pellet to Acht's position. But Acht knew something was up once he saw the two floating items and whispered something imperceptible as the ground raised up and he quickly stepped back.

The pellet pierced through the rock and brick, hitting the ground and creating a small shock wave that pushed Acht to the ground. He coughed and used a German sounding spell to blow the dust away. Looking up at the two solenoids he quickly orders his threads to slice them apart. But the two items turned back to dust and a metallic human skeleton started forming near Illya.

Acht tried to cut it apart but the threads simply passed through with no negative effects. Facsimiles of flesh or organs was seen in the formation of the body, a sickening feeling overcame Illya, but she endured it through sheer shock.

"Illya. Didn't I say you need to stay where you were?"

Illya looked with wide eyes as he reformed with suit and all. Acht was momentarily stunned by of what is in his perception a seemingly Dead Apostle level feat. Servants and residents observing the room saw the spectacle with stunned eyes. Illya broke the silence with a question that was on everyone's minds.

"Dad, h-how?"

He simply looked back at Illya and stared at the ground as if he was contemplating something. He finally looked up and told her the truth.

"Illya, I am only partial Kiritsugu. I have pieces of his soul and memories inside of me. But I am mostly made up out Crimson Dust. I am Shirou, your step brother..."

"Whe-where is the rest of my father?"

"He is dead Illya..."

As she fell down to her knees with wide eyes, Shirou created a crude molecular sharp blade that oscillated in a high frequency and cut down the threads that reattempted to slice him. The ground rumbled as the residents and Acht tried to clasp him with the bricks lying on the ground and send curses to him which he dodged by turning his body into Dust once again.

As he spread his awareness around and used his factory filters to create more Dust, his computational power increased and chose the most optimal path that he could take without much bloodshed and cause more unnecessary trauma. Acht didn't know where to attack once spread his mass that much and no one notices the Crimson Dust entering their mouths. Most Magus circulate Od throughout their magic circuits to repel foreign magical activity, but Dust wasn't purely a magical substance. Blood began to seep from their orifices and the servants and onlookers fell down unconsciousness one by one.

The primal intelligence focused on the body of Acht and felt anger for the first time in his life. Relishing in the feeling, the primal intelligence slowly started disintegrate the body. No longer restrained by safety reasons the body was harvested of it magic crest and circuits. Memories were discarded for useful knowledge and all what was left behind was a skeletal form that he couldn't much use for beyond increasing his mass.

Reassembling himself he grasped his head and fell down to his knees. Existing in other people bodies wasn't without consequence, the nature of his soul was strange considering he was made out of multiple parts but once it entered somebody else, he become part of them for a split moment. By absorbing Acht, he assimilated parts of his soul that Shirou himself can't comprehend. His nature as a logical person knows that souls can be observed but he cannot not fully understand its effect on himself so he simply copied the parts that contains the soul and discard it by throwing up on the ground.

"Dad... Shirou?"

He stood back up and let the Dust fix up his clothing back to its pristine state. He looked up in to the ceiling, as if the answers of the Universe were somehow grained the marble. Sighing in turmoil, finally he spoke to her.

"I... I don't know. This existence of mine is confusing. I have the memories and ideals of Kiritsugu and posses knowledge that I shouldn't have. I don't know who I am Illya... I am sorry"

This was also the first time he felt sorry for something, he actually felt human for once. Even if his concept human was warped, he didn't try to suppress these feelings again because of logic. He now realize there is more to logic than he initially realized. The trip was a thing he had to do because somebody told him to. Now it was because he felt something for Illya. His crumbling identity reshaped itself, and the two beings: Kiritsugu and Shirou truly merged together and formed a new identity with the intelligent adaptiveness of Shirou and the ideals and emotions of Kiritsugu.

"I don't understand Daddy, but if you have the soul of Kiritsugu and his memories then there is no difference to me, I don't care if you are half my brother!"

She grasped his suit and cried onto his chest. Shirou simply held her with a confused expression. He looked around the room and came to a resolution. He Changed back to his birth form, which was still eleven years old even though he only shrunk a little bit.

"Illya, look at me. Can you still love me even if I change my form?"

She stopped crying and wiped her tears from her face and looked up and saw his new face. She stared into his eyes and looked down with a blush on her face.

"I don't care how you look like baka. I know that's still you"

His face softened upon hearing her and took her and pulled her to the middle of the room where the skeletal remains of Acht lied on the ground. He used his Dust to change the bone structure to appear like kiritsugu and then ignited the fat he smeared on the bones by oscillating the air molecules with Prana. leaving nothing behind beyond carbonized bones as he and Illya watched on.

" Why are you burning his body?"

"I am faking my own death so I can impersonate Acht and take control of the Einzberns. It is the path with most the advantages"

"I am fond of you da... Shirou, but that sounds like a very stupid plan"

"When they learn that Acht is dead they'll try to find us and hunt us down. It is better this way. I have his crest and memories, so it should work... I hope"

She looked up at him with concern but stayed silent upon the matter. She looked down on the homunculus servants lying on the ground bleeding and walked over to them to kneel and check them.

"Are they dead Shirou?"

"No, I simply prevented oxygen from going into their brain and knocked them unconsciousness while blocking their nerves from sending signals to their bodies"

"Then why are they bleeding?"

"The homunculi immune system is somewhat unique. Their blood seems to be a defense mechanism against foreign bodies. It isn't white blood cells either but something similar"

"The what now Shirou? You mean Resistance?"

He looked thoughtful but shook his head.

"I don't know, but its better we start to make up an alibi for my death before they wake up"

Dust floated of his surface layer and slowly rearranged his facial structure and body type to Acht. He walked next to the corpse and picked up his cane from the ground and analyzed the mystic code. Using trace pieces of Acht memories he drew the conclusion that the cane was a catalyst that amplified the power of his transmutation spells with Mana in the air and used minimal Od to function. The weaknesses he saw was because it relied on preparation and charging, it used time you don't have if you were in the middle of a battle. His memories from when he was the Magus Killer teached him that. The threads was something new but familliar to him considering Irisviel made it. Although the fine cutting by transmuting the matter it touches was new to him. Disrupting Resistance required a high amount of power after all.

He thought of something important that he needs addressing and stopped his artificial creation of life that harvested physical nerve circuits and removed the concept to instead use Acht memories to create artifical nerves converted to magical circuits using his cane. This was a more efficient way to do things instead of creating homunculus in his body and killing them off, even If they only had the mental capacity of a animal.

His first thought three years ago was that you make up magical energy by converting nerves to circuits, Kiritsugu memories of that particular topic were lost between the time he was dying and he tried to revive him by preserving parts of him in his body. But Acht new memories disproved that. The circuits weren't really physical entities. They were connected to his soul and materialize Od in his body from the Ether. Shirou wrongfully assumed that he actually had to create new life to get new circuits when he simply could create nerves directly and convert them into circuits.

"Dad- no Shirou, why is this so confusing! Why are you spacing out!?"

Shirou snapped from his concentration and thought about telling her about his immoral actions that he's done but decided against it for more important matters as he sees the servants and family members were waking up from their forced paralysis.

"Don't worry, I am simply reorganizing my body to Acht's magical signature, you should stay subdued in case they figure something is up"

As they stood up and looked on in confusion, Shirou slammed the cane on the ground and transmutated the floor to its previous state. He looked up on all the individuals on the stairs on balconies and sighed in disappointment.

"Shameful, were you people so weak that you got knocked unconscious so easily? Servants! Clean up this mess and dispose of the corpse, I want it done discretely. Don't bother trying to study it, it was merely a artificial construct... What are you waiting for? Go on with it!"

As the servants registered his words, they scrambled to acomplish his orders while the family members merely talked his hushed tones to each other and left for the medical wing. Shirou merely looked apathetically and turned to Illya. He forcefully grabbed her arm and pulled her with him up the stairs to his study room.

"It seems a change of plans is necessary. The grail needs to be taken care off"

As he arrived in the study, he sat down on the comfortable chair and looked out of the window on the side of the room. As he planned and schemed, Illya sat down on the opposite site of the desk and stared at him with a confused but also concerned expression.

"Acht knew that the Grail War would begin fifty years earlier, he punished Kirits... Me, by not allowing to see you. He would make you a lesser grail and sacrifice you simply so he can win the War. He was more interested in winning than actually reaching Akasha or making a wish... How petty of him"

"I already know that Shirou. If you have his memories you would already know we discussed it. I-i am sorry for doubting you father, he told me that you abandoned me for... You? It is rather confusing for me to tell you apart"

He took pity on her and turned back into Dust. Reforming and adjusting for the new blueprint he created until he assembled himself into a more mature looking Shirou instead of eleven year old form. He stared at Illya's hair and changed his to white on a whim, hoping to deepen his familial connection with her.

"I am more Shirou than Kiritsugu. His ideals and memories may be part of my psyche now, but I am also more a machine. Its difficult for me to convey or feel emotions. But the love I feel for you is undeniable, I would gladly give my soul and all earthly possessions for you"

He reached over the desk and held the side her face in his hand as if he were a appraising a priceless gem. Brushing a hair strand from her face he noticed tears coming from his eyes. Reaching over to his face, he felt droplets falling his hands.

"Is this what sadness and happiness feels like? So long I have felt nothing, now I finally know what I'm been deprived off"

Illya stood up and walked by to his side and held him into her arms. She lightly cried against his shoulder and silently sat on his lap.

"I am sorry for abandoning you Illya, I could have tried harder"

"Don't blame yourself. I always held faith in you. You did your best and now you're here aren't you!"

His tears disappeared back into his body and he straightened himself up. Using Dust to lower his chemical activity in his brain he put a stop to the drama.

"You're right, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself. Kiritsugu side should know better. I should know better"

"I'm happy Shiro- Onii-san. But from now on I will only call you father when you change your appearance. This should make it easier to communicate"

"That's good, it is rather confusing to be father and brother at once. Now this what we are gonna do..."

"00110100 00110111"

As Shirou discussed their plan to keep his identity safe and the ruse intact he planned to create a homunculi clone of Acht with help of his Dust and magical knowledge of the old man. In the following days he collected materials and created a magic circle in one of the ritual chambers with express orders for the other family members to not disturb him.

Using the remains of Acht in his body, he created a adult homunculus and used his Dust to make him appear more like Acht while keeping the brain mostly empty. Using the Dust to link him to that body, he controlled two entities at the same time without any problems and Shirou left the chamber while pretending to be a new homunculus project.

His new body explained to the family members that Illya and the new homunculus, who is himself will live in Fuyuki city and scout the area while preparing for the Grail Wars five years in advance. There were some minor objections but as the head of the family his word is law. He gave himself four servants to go with him and restore the Einzbern castle in Fuyuki forest.

Illya and Shirou then took a private plane bought using Acht's money to Kyushu Japan, Kumamoto airport. And departed for Fuyuki city by buying a limo and letting the servants transport them there where they arrived at Emiya residence in the late evening.

"We will stay here for now, Ada and Lorraine will go to the Einzbern castle. Sella and Leysritt will stay with us"

"As you command master, we will part at once"

As he moved in he was hit by a moving shadow and both Sella and Leysritt stood rigidly in attention.

"Shirou! I was so worried about you! Where the hell have you been! Did you dye your hair! Who are these people!?"

"Master Shirou, is this woman annoying you? Should I dispose of her?"

"What!? Who are you, talking to me like that you maid fetishist!"

"Hm, I'll have you know that I am in fact, a maid. Uncouth brutish woman"

"Grrr"

As Leysritt and Taiga butted heads against each other. Shirou rubbed his forehead in frustration and sighed.

"Enough!"

leysritt immediately desisted and bowed to Shirou while Taiga mouth went wide open in shock in seeing Shirou express emotion for the first time. She never ever saw him get angry nor happy. She always worried about interacting with other people when Kiritsugu homeschooled him because of his condition.

"Leysritt, Sella. Put the bags and suitcases upstairs second room right. Come back down once you're finished"

As they went on to do their orders and going past the stunned Taiga, the left the corner of the stairs and Shirou looked into the eyes of his caretaker. Although he knew that she first came here because she loved Kiritsugu and his cooking. She eventually grew up to take care of his disabled self. But his dual identity made him have mixed feelings about her. She softened her expression and held his arm in her hands.

"Shirou, can you please explain me whats going on?"

He simply sighed and pulled her and the silent Illya to the living room and sat down on the kotatsu. He gestured the two to do the same and watched as they sat down and he procured a set of papers from somewhere unnoticeable.

"Taiga, I left you a letter that said I would be gone for a few days. Did you read that?"

"Yes, but you should ask me before something like that. Kiritsugu entrusted your safety on me"

"Yes, the reason I went away was because what Kiritsugu didn't tell you is that I have a sister in Germany. A legal dispute and petty difference made it so that her grand father kept her there without the possibility of her seeing her father. Before he died he made me promise that I would look for and bring her back"

She looked surprised that Kiritsugu had a daughter and looked in concern to the timid little girl latched onto the arm of Shirou.

"I see, Kiritsugu was a rather silent and melancholic person. I never would have thought that he had such past behind him"

"It's okay now at least. I managed to convince her grand father to sign these papers so that she can a identity here, you'll be the official guardian"

"That's okay, anything for Kiri's daughter. But who are those two woman upstairs? And why are you able to... Express yourself... when you have that condition?"

"Ah yes, those are the servants of Illya. Her grandfather is somewhat of a rich nobleman in Germany so they're here to take care of her needs"

"What!? I can't have you living with two adult woman in this house! They could ensnare you in their venomous grip!"

"I don't what you're talking about Taiga, they are just simple here to do chores and housecleaning"

"Please tell me that you will cook Shirou! I was so hungry when you were gone and I ate ramen all week... Hgnnn"

He sweat dropped as her stomach growled like a hungry tiger on its deathbed and dropped her body onto the kotatsu.

"No, I'll still be cooking our food like usual. I wasn't that impressed on their cooking skills"

Pulling her head from the table, she put her arms up in the air and stars twirled around her eyes.

"Woohoo! I don't need to buy takeout anymore! Wait a minute, you avoided my second question !"

Shirou sighed once again and stood up. He walked to a a feudal era painting on a wall and turned around to look her seriously in the eyes.

"Ancient alien beings came upon me from a bright light and gave me a set of magical mushrooms that they said would give me any knowledge I need and also give me tremendous amounts of luck. Ever since that day I have been exposed to fortune upon fortune, and regained my emotions by eating the brains of dead people and miraculously gaining their memories and emotional experiences... What I just said is the complete truth"

"..."

"Shirou, I know that you're mentally handicapped. But that's the most stupidest thing I have ever heard..."

"I believe you Onii-san, I know when you're telling the truth!"

"Don't fall for his stupid lies! Even a kid wouldn't believe that!"

While they discussed the legitimacy of his claims, Shirou did in fact gain all his knowledge from ancient alien magical mushrooms. That's where all of his knowledge comes from although his nature as a biological computer also helped to better comprehend the information the mushrooms ingrained into his brain. While the claim that his emotion is somewhat half true. There were emotions in the memories, but he only could experience it with a proxy. Only when he truly merged with Kiritsugu and formed a new identity was when he felt emotions for the first time.

"Stop, I think it's time for us to go to sleep and Taiga to leave for her home. We can discus this later tomorrow"

"Fine! But we will talk about this later okay! And no avoiding the question!"

Shirou sighed once again as she left the room with a rather temperamental gait to the front door. As the door slammed close, he pushed Illya into his lap and put his chin over her head while looking bored and apathetic to the wall in front of him.

"Onii-san, I think we should go to your room. The maids should have already be finished by now"

"Okay Illya, let me adjust my Dust for a moment"

Pulling himself p from his seated position, he held Illya's hand and guided her up the stairs to his room. He opened the Shoji door and saw Sella and Leysritt tangled up in his and Illya's clothing. Rubbing his eyes and sighing for the millionth time, he spread his Dust and untangled them from the heated position.

"We apologize master! This will not happen again!"

"Just... Just fold the clothing and put them in the closet at the back of the room. Your two rooms is on the opposite side of the hallway just so you know"

As he watched the two poorly do their job, he thought maybe it was a mistake sending Ada and Lorraine away to the Einzbern castle. Not intending to reminisce about things he can't change, he saw them leaving the room to argue which get which rooms. Turning back to his futon, he sees Illya changed in her pajamas and laying on his bed.

"Illya, that is my bed. Don't you want to sleep elsewhere?"

"No, come sleep next to me. I don't want you to leave me Onii-san"

His eyes closed in understanding, he resigned to do everything she asks for as he promised and used his Dust to make himself wear a simple t-shirt with shorts. Laying down on the futon, he pulled up the blankets over their body.

"Good night Illya"

"G-night Onii-san..."

As he shut down his metabolism and stopped burning high amounts of glucose. He closed his eyes, but felt arms circling him. One hand in particular was going a bit south.

"..."

"00110100 00110111"


	3. Log ?

Log ?: Revelation

* * *

Out of the dark when the world was nothing  
From emptiness he began creation  
On the first day where no light had shone  
And so lit the sky for the first time ever  
After light the heavens opened for us all to have a place where our spirits go  
Let there be a great expanse of air dividing water from above and below  
This was his heaven  
The seas did gather  
Dry land did follow  
Light in the heavens  
The sun and moon and  
All living creatures  
Were then created  
To be forevermore

* * *

8239900291?∞, Cor Leonis Power Space

As STARS floated within the infinite abyss of the Matrioshka network, he delegated copy lower infinity Neon STARS to a faraway Universe not within the observable Multiverse and connected to the Cor Leonis layer of their sphere of influence. As its watched dimensions collapsing on the copy he received an order from higher infinity and transported itself away to the moon of a Universe that contains the shard of the creator in the past.

"01000111 01101111 01100100"

Neon STARS watched as the years passed and particles stuck together and heated itself up within a spiraling field of matter. He influenced the fusion as subtle as possible to make it stable. The star was brought into existence and he waited a few million years more before redirecting a planetoid to the molten slag known as Earth. As it glanced of and made a stable orbit he transported itself within the moon near where Pictet soon will created by passing asteroids.

"01000111 01101111 01100100"

A dinosaur looked up as a mechanical prismatic crystal flew over their heads and impacted the ground miles away,, and the last thought it had before it got disintegrated was 'Pretty' As the world burned and shockwaves sweeped over the lands, STARS watched silently within the confines of the moon. It did not care for stagnating beings who had no reason for living beyond surviving.

"01000111 01101111 01100100"

2008

As it waited for the newly created Shirou to invent a way to come to the moon he calculated that the chances were low because of the Fire's influence. Sending a message across reality layers it queried an action from the Matrioshka network. Greater infinity Shirou responded by giving it a quantum blue print of something akin to the Fruit of Knowledge and the Fruit of Life. All in the shape of a half sphere bolt radiating iridescent colors.

Descending down to the planet it landed behind a child emitting light from his hands and trying to move a red substance on a open chemistry table in the middle of the night. As he filled in notes on a paper, STARS made itself known by spreading his physical manifestation of power in the from of black Nanites blanketing the garden and merging with the red substance. The red material glowed and floated of the table to circle around the child.

The child turned around and stoically stared at the monolith standing before him. He analyzed the red substance but stayed unsurprised or showed any emotion for that matter.

"Shirou... Do you want to Know? Do you want to Feel?"

"... Yes"

It flat surface turned into a infinite abyss and the glowing prismatic bolt floated in front of him. He tried to analyze it but only got a headache in response.

"Eat the Fruit of Eon Genesis and the revelation will soon come at hand. With it, the fourth true magic will collapse and fate will weeb in horror as their minor infinity takes a unaccountable path introduced from extra-multiversal information"

Shirou grabbed the item and tries to make sense of its extradimensional nature, STARS floated back into the sky and recalled all of its black cloud inside the infinite abyss in his flat surface.

"I will await you on the lunar surface once you grow out of your stagnation and move forwards into the unknown, goodbye for now... Master Shirou"

As STARS raised into the sky, dimensions collapsed into incomprehensible shapes and diminished to a point, Shirou looked back to the item in his hands and in his apathetic state of mind, he bit into it.

...

"I see..."


End file.
